


Call Me Natasha

by flipflop_diva



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon, Recruitment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-27
Updated: 2014-09-27
Packaged: 2018-02-19 01:14:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2368931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flipflop_diva/pseuds/flipflop_diva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She's a young, trained assassin who was working for their enemy until a week ago. They're the ones who have to make sure she's trustworthy. Or the story of how Maria, Clint and Natasha all learned to trust each other. Set pre-movie canon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Call Me Natasha

**Author's Note:**

  * For [geckoholic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/geckoholic/gifts).



She just watched her at first. Standing on the other side of the one-way mirror that covered the far end of the training room, she could observe her for hours without her ever knowing. 

She was definitely lethal, Maria noted. Every move she made was calculated and purposeful. She was aware of everything. For every move her opponent made, she had at least three backup plans in mind.

They sent in an array of people to spar with her, some just average but some the best they had. She beat them all every time. And she did it all with her face neutral, her eyes betraying nothing.

“What do you think?” Clint looked over at Maria as they watched their newest recruit take down yet another agent. It had been three weeks since she had arrived, silent and almost submissive, her hands cuffed behind her back.

She’d answered every question they asked of her, and she looked them directly in the eye when she did so, but there was something about her Maria couldn’t quite put a finger on. And it wasn’t just that she was an assassin trained by their enemies.

“She’s an assassin trained to kill anyone who gets in her way,” Maria said to Clint now.

“She wanted out.”

“Did she tell you that?”

“Not in so many words.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“I’m trained to know these things,” Clint said. “Those people are ruthless.”

“So is she.”

“She can be a good SHIELD agent.”

“ _If_ we can trust her.”

“We can trust her,” Clint said.

Maria shook her head. “I’m glad one of us thinks so.”

•••

She slipped into the training room without making a sound. Natalia — Black Widow was what they called her — was pummeling the punching bag in the corner. She’d already defeated ten opponents in the past hour.

Maria walked over to her, stood behind her.

“Do you want some real competition?”

Natalia froze, but just for a second. Then she turned around to take in Maria. They hadn’t actually met face-to-face yet, though Maria had seen plenty of her.

“Sure,” Natalia answered.

“Okay, then.”

Maria moved over to the mat in the center of the room, quickly shedding her jacket to reveal the sports bra and tank top she had on underneath. She wrapped her hands and turned around when she was ready.

Natalia was already crouched in a defensive position in the corner.

“You go first,” Maria told her, and waited until it came, a leap in her direction. 

Maria was prepared. She’d watched her for days, knew she always went left first. Maria dodged her, waited for the feint, and then ducked when the real one came. Natalia dove in again. She was fast and smart and always well prepared, but Maria had a plan.

She dodged her for a few moments and then let herself get hit. She flew to the ground, but she was prepared, hitting and rolling and yanking out the taser gun that was hidden in her waistband. She aimed and fired before Natalia even had a chance, hitting her square in the chest.

She went down, hard, and Maria shot to her feet, walking over to stand over her. It hadn’t been strong enough to hurt her, but Natalia hadn’t moved. 

And then Maria saw it. 

Fear.

For the first time since Barton had brought her in, Natalia looked scared. She stared at Maria and didn’t even try to move.

Maria held out a hand to her, but Natalia didn’t take it.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Maria said. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to see how you’d react. That wasn’t fair, I know.”

She didn’t retract her hand, but still Natalia just stared at her.

“I’m Maria,” she said. “I work with Fury, Coulson and Barton. No one’s going to hurt you, I promise.”

Natalia pursed her lips. “Even though you ordered him to kill me?”

“That was before.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Barton thinks we can trust you. No one’s going to hurt you unless you give us a reason not to trust you. I promise.”

“And you can make those types of promises?”

“I can.”

Natalia appeared to be thinking about it, but finally she reached out her hand. Maria grabbed her and pulled her to her feet.

“Come on,” she told her. “Let’s go get some lunch. I think you’ve trained enough today.”

•••

“Okay,” Maria said to Clint the next morning as they watched Natalia battle even more agents. “I’m only going to say this once. But you were right.”

She didn’t have to turn her head to see the grin that spread across Clint’s face. 

“Don’t get too cocky,” she said.

“But you’re admitting I was right about her?”

“Whatever the KGD did to her, she’s scared of them.”

“And?”

“And that means we have a good chance.”

“So what do we do? Besides just watch her.”

Maria smiled. “We give her a reason to trust us.”

•••

They entered the training room together after everyone else had gone. She was sitting in the middle of the floor, adjusting the wraps on her hands. She looked up when they entered, quickly jumping to her feet.

“We want you to come with us,” Maria said.

She didn’t say anything, but Maria saw her eyes flicker from her to Barton and back again.

“It’s a good thing,” Maria told her. “We promise.”

They waited till she walked over to them, and then they turned and led her out of the room and down a few halls to the elevators. Natalia walked between them, and Maria could see her taking everything in. She hadn’t been allowed to see this part of Triskelion before.

They ended up in a huge room on the third floor. Rolls of fabric were piled from floor to ceiling and the sound of machines could be heard in the background.

Natalia looked at them curiously.

“If you’re going to be a SHIELD agent,” Maria said. “Then you’re going to need a uniform.”

For just a second, there was the ghost of a hint of a smile on Natalia’s face. But then it disappeared and she nodded.

An hour later she was dressed in a dark blue catsuit, one that had plenty of hidden pockets for her to hide her weapons.

She looked up at Clint and Barton.

“Thank you,” she said.

“There’s something else,” Maria said. “We want this to be a fresh start. For you, for us. New look, new identity … new name.”

She paused. Natalia looked confused. 

“You don’t need to be who you were with the KGB. You want to shed your past, you can. You don’t have to be Natalia anymore. You don’t have to be Russian.”

Natalia appeared to ponder that. She looked at Maria, then at Clint, then back to Maria. Finally, for the first time since she was brought in, she smiled.

“Natasha,” she said. “Call me Natasha.”


End file.
